faith formation,: Guardian Angel Prayer is Not a Joke - Fr. Mark Goring, CC

 Fr. Goring is spot-on, on this. My sister got me praying to my guardian angel on a regular basis and I can tell you amazing things happen.

Another thing to consider is our guardian angel has no other job; other than to help you to get to heaven and protecting you. I mean the saints in heaven are patrons of other causes, nations, and peoples. Not that that diminishes them in any way, but your guardian angel is your best friend, he has nothing to do but help you-- this is all!

And it isn't like he is just helping you till he get another job. After you die he will still be with you in heaven. He will not get reassigned to someone else, he is your absolutest bestest friend.

faith formation: Step by Step --Patience Wins

Some more great thoughts from Fr. Goring.

Perseverance and trusting  the Lord gains everything.

Romans 5:3-5
"…Not only that, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;  perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.…"

Founding of Christendom: Succession of Popes begins: Popes St. Linus and St. Cletus -- post 13

Little information survives about the governing of Rome during Emperor Vespasian's ten-year rule.

After successfully defeating Judaea, and Nero's death, with a succession of equally doomed  emperors in one year,(known as: "The Year of the Four Emperors") Vespasian became Emperor.

Emperor Vespasian reformed the monetary system of Rome, initiated several ambitious construction projects, including the building of the Roman Colosseum. Through his general Agricola, Vespasian increased imperial expansion in Britain. After he died at age 69, in 79 AD, he was succeeded by his eldest son Titus, becoming the first Roman emperor to be succeeded by his natural son, and establishing the Flavian dynasty.

Deposit of the Faith: The Ancient Jewish Roots of the Catholic Church - John Bergsma

 Here is an excellent interview about the continuity of the Faith from ancient Judaism to the Catholic Church. It is choppy at parts because of  a bad connection, be patient; it worth listening to.

Taken from the you tube channel:

Intellectual Conservatism

faith formation: the Eternal Complainer

 St. Maryam of Bethlehem, who never complained. What a wonderful gift!!The Blessed Mother told her to always be content. And it was also revealed that Satan is the eternal Complainer.

faith formation: Temper and Trust in God

A result of defeatist language--Temperamental Lingo-- is it leads to Temper, a form of pride. Temper is when a "right" is subjectively claimed, and force is objectively used. It is an expression of pride and not getting one's way.

Temperamental Lingo leads us to claiming a subjective "right" that  works ourselves up until we explode into a temper tantrum--yelling, screaming or stomping, etc...lashing out, (sometimes only in our minds) which is Angry Temper--anger at others or situations, it is followed by Fearful Temper-- anger at one's self.

 It is an expression of pride in both cases.

5 Colossians 3:8
"But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth."

Founding of Christendom: Destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem-- post 12

Destruction of the Temple

 After the martyrdom of St. Peter, the leadership of the Catholic Church was left to Linus who was ordained by Peter a few years earlier. Not much is known of Linus other  than he was a former slave, St. Paul loved him, Peter trusted him and he was with St. Paul in his last hours.

St. Mark returned to Alexandia in Egypt after Peter's death. He ministered as best he could to the Christians there. A strong tradition in Egypt holds that in the year 68 AD, Easter Sunday fell on the same feast day of the pagan god Serapis. St. Mark was seized by Serapis worshipers and dragged through the streets until he was dead.  

Meanwhile in Jerusalem Christians were being rounded up beginning in 64 AD. St. James the Just was no longer there to help. He was martyred two years before. Like the situation of St. Stephan, the Roman proconsul had suddenly died in 62 AD. The Jews took advantage of the power vacuum-- arresting and killing.

This persecution produced the inspiration for the Letter to the Hebrews, to strengthen the leaderless Church of Jerusalem. Probably dictated by St. Paul in Hebrew or Arimaic and later translated into Greek by St. Luke.

This has been a controversy for a long time but early Church historian Eusebius states that "some have rejected the Epistle to the Hebrews, saying that it is disputed by the church of Rome, on the ground that it was not written by Paul." In response, he endorses the view of Clement of Alexandria: that the epistle was written by Paul in Hebrew (unsigned through modesty), and translated  into Greek by Luke, similar in style with Luke's Acts. [Eusebius, Hist. Eccl. 6.14.2–3 (text), citing Clement's Hypotyposes,]
 

Fall of Jerusalem

Shortly after the Nero persecution broke the replacements of Fesus, the former prefect of Judea, were two succeeding evil men: Albinus and Florus. Both were  greedy, brutal, and stupid.

Nero's brutal rule of the empire led to  revolts all over the Empire. One of the most fierce was in Israel,  by the so-called "Zealots" or the 'Daggermen." This would be the beginning of the end of the Jewish nation of Israel.

Rome had lost her patients with Israel and was going to destroy it once and for all.